Hawaii Pacific’s inaugural women’s golf roster has players from New Jersey, Finland, Kansas, the Czech Republic, California and New Mexico. It has only one, however, who is a five-time All-American … in tennis.
Zora Vlckova is the only four-time singles All-American in the history of HPU’s women’s program. She was also an All-American doubles player as a junior and ended her career last May ranked 11th in NCAA Division II, playing No. 1 for the country’s sixth-ranked team.
When she came back this fall to pursue her MBA, the Sea Warriors had added their first new sport in six years, in conjunction with the PacWest Conference adding a women’s golf championship. Men’s coach Steven Lorick was put in charge and held a tryout.
Vlckova, initially planning to work as Lorick’s graduate assistant, had a year of eligibility left. She had also developed an addiction to golf soon after touching her first club four years ago. Her father all but forced her to try the game, but her addiction follows a common theme, and is a common affliction.
"The beginning was tough because I didn’t want to do it and you miss so many balls. It was no fun," Vlckova recalls. "But then I started to realize many of my friends play golf, so I started playing with them and playing here when I got back after summer, at all the beautiful courses in Hawaii.
"Then I had my first par. Then I wanted my first birdie and you know …it’s a never-ending game. You cannot win this game. It’s so different than tennis. There, you have a match and you have to win it. In golf, you can always do better. Now I’m waiting for my first eagle. I’ve been close."
The Sea Warriors make their debut at the seventh annual Dennis Rose Intercollegiate Monday and Tuesday at Waikoloa Kings’. University of Hawaii-Hilo hosts as its men attempt to win their third straight event. The men’s field also includes Brigham Young-Hawaii, Chaminade and five others. There are six women’s teams along with Hilo and HPU.
Lorick is laying low on expectations for his inaugural team. Kailee Kuehn, a transfer from University of Missouri-Kansas City, is the only one with collegiate experience. Vickova’s best round is 89 — "It has to get better" — but even if she had never hit double digits the coach wanted her on his team.
"She has the skill set of a champion," says Lorick, founder of HyBridZone, a sports performance and business consulting company. "She knows how to prepare, she knows how to excel. I figure if she can take that same mind-set she used for tennis and apply it to golf she will be very, very good. Thus far she has improved a lot. She is someone I believe will help us.
"Zora is successful because she’s coachable. Whether you are talking about the fact that she has the best grades out of anyone in the athletics program or her wanting to improve her game, which was tennis and now is golf, she’s coachable. She’s an empty cup, willing to take on more to learn how to get better. Her cup for tennis is almost to the top, but her cup for golf is growing, filling up. If you could have more people like Zora on your team, coaching would be an easy job."
HPU practices at Koolau, which had the toughest course rating in America and is infamous for swallowing golf balls. Vlckova, who has played at several courses in Europe, figures Koolau could legitimately claim to be one of the toughest courses in the world.
She thrives on the challenge, as she always has. She will still play tennis, and plans to enter next month’s final Women’s Night Doubles Triple Crown stop at Kailua Racquet Club. But golf is her new priority.
Tennis helps, from the common elements of full body rotation and a weapon in her hand, to her mastery of one of the most elusive qualities in sports.
"If I get frustrated, I forget about it in the next few seconds," says Vlckova, HPU’s 2012 Female Athlete of the Year and a two-time Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year who has a 4.0 GPA in her MBA program. "That’s what helps me with tennis. When I hit a bad shot I forget about it and go to the next shot. I just try not to make the same mistake again. I try to take something from it."
